Everything was white. It hurt her eyes as she ran through it, looking for a break in the world, a way out of the white. It was so blinding that it almost seemed to buzz in her ears. There was nothing but her, no walls, no cieling, no end, yet somehow her shoes made echoes whenever they made contact with the white ground.
She was becoming desperate and out of breath. Her head pounded with dizzyness, and she became disoriented in world with no direction but out, no destination but out. She knew she couldn't run anymore, and helplessly sat down on the cold, hard, white floor. This world was starting to make her sick. She could feel nausea creeping up on her, and concentrated on her pale but unwhite hand, feeling comforted by its presence.
"Yire kyrlne siur." Edea knew the language, and it should have been friendly. She couldn't tell where the speaker was, though she got up and tried to follow the direction of the voice. "Plarnle orie yire gwilkin? Yire umnel ahkir trelne rendeor?"
"Plarnle rendeor? Trelne irie rywin koja." Her head turned upwards; the endless up was laughing at her.
"Poor soul, udaine siur. It's been so long since you've come to visit. You don't remember the toungue, you answer back in nonsense."
"Urre icandor orywin sinenwa, per sinenwa trilni quarionklim herda yer urre."
"You are not happy now that you have found them again?"
She couldn't muster up the words to answer back in the farmiliar language of her mind. "I don't know who brings me these words now."
The woman speaking to her chuckled. "Yes you do.".
Edea sat upright with a jolt, woken by the intruding ring of her bedside phone. She was sweaty and clammy from her unwelcomed dream, and still trembling with the shock of a sudden awakening, brought the phone to her ear.
"This is Edea Krammer, how may I help you?"
"It's me, dearest."
"Something is wrong. I went to the white world last night." She waited for her husband's brief silence.
"Rinoa is dead."
Edea had no immediate response until she took a moment. "Dear Hyne." She felt all the color leave her face. "Is Squall there? Can I speak with him?"
"He's with Diamond." They sat in silence for a while longer.
Her legs were quivering, almost uncontrollably. "This wasn't some sort of accident, was it?"
"Seifer..."
"Oh God," she cut him off. "This is disgusting." She reached for a tissue; an onslaught of tears had started. "What is happening with everything? The world that I had hoped for all of them was working so well."
"I know. Everybody was supposed to be happy."
She sniffed. They said nothing for a few minutes. "I love you, darling."
"Good bye." The conversation had ended, and the day had to start despite the tragedy.
The orphanage had almost doubled in size over the years. The old stone building had been restored, but more wings had been added to accamodate more orphans. She still ran it all by herself with only the help of a cook, and the task was stressful, even more so on a particulary horrible day as this. She rang the morning bell in the bell tower to wake the children, and set out the food that had been freshly prepared.
Three children were in the room, and two immediately rose with the sound of the bell. One refused to move and stayed in the bed. The waken ones began whispering amongst themselves.
"We can't. She'll go completely nuts on us."
"But Matron said we all have to help each other and that included..."
"Getting hit in the face? I don't really think so."
"Okay, okay. But if we get in trouble for leaving her, don't run off and say it was my idea." They left the sleeping brunette to her dreams.
One huge table sat everybody in the orphanage, and an empty chair was easily noticed. Edea was distracted with her sad thoughts and overlooked it. "Remember everybody who has loved you and say a prayer that they are happy right now. You can eat." Each child began to ravenously shove food down their throats, but Edea had no appetite and simply pushed her food around with her fork. One little boy started to cough and she looked up, but it wasn't a dramatic matter and was easily resolved. She did find this time, though, an vacant chair. Becoming furious, she quickly left an older looking girl in charge of all the orphans and stormed down to the east wing.
"Jade!" Edea entered her room, and she changed her position to face the wall. "Get up this instant."
"Go away," said the groggy voice of a young girl. "I feel sick."
Edea wondered why children always bothered with that excuse. "Do you really want me to take your temprature?"
The girl's face under her covers became slightly concerned, but she had the situation under the control. "No, it's just a belly ache."
"Well then, I'm sure some food in your stomach will fix it. Get up right now, or you'll be spending your alone time with me for a whole week."
She grumbled and sat up in her bed. Her brown hair was a mess, sticking up in places and clinging to her neck. She rubbed her emreld green eyes in an effort to wake herself up, and reached for a hair brush.
"Breakfast is already out, and your meal is getting cold. You can do that later."
Jade simply rolled her eyes and dragged her feet out the door that Edea held opened. She walked down the hall, Edea's angry footsteps close behind.
